A mounting bracket of the mentioned type is known in the art and typically comprises two sidewall portions each having a top end and a bottom end, which sidewall portions are positioned opposite each other at a mutual distance for receiving an end of the trailing arm in between their respective bottom ends.
As the trailing arm supports the wheel axle, relatively large forces need to be transmitted to the chassis via the mounting bracket. Usually transmittal of said forces is done by mounting the mounting bracket directly below a chassis element, as is for instance done in EP 1459914 and EP 1481824 in which the mounting bracket is mounted to a lower flange of an I-beam of the chassis.
However, the mounting bracket may have to be mounted to other types of beams, such as U-, L- or Z-beams, especially in case of a trailer slider assembly. A trailer slider assembly allows a wheel axle including wheel axle suspension to be moved relative to the chassis in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle in order to change the position of the wheels, e.g. in order to change the wheel base of the vehicle, which may be advantageous from load point of view. The trailer slider assembly usually comprises a slider frame which slidingly engages with the chassis and a fixing mechanism to fix the slider frame relative to the chassis in a predetermined position. The wheel axle suspension and the wheel axle are in turn mounted to the slider frame.
Mounting the mounting bracket in alternative ways to, e.g. other types of, beams may not result in an efficient transmittal of forces to the chassis as force moments may be introduced. This problem is currently solved by using reinforcement elements allowing the proper transmittal of forces to the chassis. However, the reinforcement elements add weight to the vehicle and introduce extra assembly steps.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved trailing arm mounting bracket, in particular a trailing arm mounting bracket that minimizes the amount of force moments applied to the chassis or slider assembly in use and/or reduces the assembly steps.